Anyone doing ES100 or COTW? I'll be doing the "kids run" on Saturday.. Wilds Marathon! haha which I'm told will be brutal..

Doing COTW.  Did the first 16.5 miles last year until I almost broke my ankle. Hobbled about a mile until I could catch a ride to the next aid station.  I just got back from doing the last 1.5 miles. Pretty nice trail at that point. If you're too tired to run or walk at that point you can just curl up a roll down the hill .

If I remember you are going to be bib #194 and I'll be #198. I'll keep looking for you.

Connie Gardner dropped at mile 66.

Wardian almost finished, Cusick still going strong.

That was without question the hardest course I have ever seen. The carnage was incredible on the 100 and the marathon. Any finisher of that 100 is beyond badass! Beyond..And Mike Wardian with that time..forget it. He's a monster.

The marathon was beyond gorgeous. It had everything you would expect from a Pa Wilds race. Sweet hemlock forests, hardwood forest, mountain laurel fields, views for days, sweeping vistas of Pine Creek Gorge, super soft almost sponge like singletrack that if you had your quads left you could cruise and make up time. But my god the descents were merciless and the climbs murderous. The rocks were loose and slippery and wobbled. Even when there were switchbacks on the downs they were so steep that unless you were an elite runner you were braking the whole way down and they just keep going down and down and you had to ask where the F*&k is the bottom!! LOL! The Torbert Trail climb around mile 25 of the marathon course was a mile long and 1,400 ft and was a back breaker. If you didn't train for climbs like really train you would have left your will there. It was cruel. But I had a big grin at the finish. I did it in 9:01 and was trying so hard for sub 9 but in the end I was very pleased with that. I think any finish there is a good one.

I had several friends who dropped in the 100. And one of them said it best that if you have ANY kind of weakness or lingering injury at all it will be exposed on a course like that. He developed IT Band issues and managed to get to mile 56 before the sweep got him. Those descents with an ITB issue is game over. He also said that one of the race organizers actually told him that they are wondering if the race is actually to hard and that the difficulty might kill the race. It didn't sell out and either did the marathon which is shocking to me. How Mega and Hyner all sell out but not COTW is really odd. Either way that's a special thing they got up there. Maybe if they offered a 100K or 50 miler or something to draw a few off the fence like me. Honestly I'm not ready to tackle a 100 miler of that caliber. I was considering it for next year but really have doubts now after the marathon. That has to be up there with one of if not the most difficult 100 milers in the east..at least that's what many who know have told me. I believe them now..

And you bet I'll be going back next year to run or crew or pace or whatever cause there is no better place to be that weekend then in Waterville!

Any time I finish a race it's a good race. I'll be posting a RR later this week. I have 72 hours scheduled this week so I may be slow getting it out.

Overall I was semi-pleased with how it went. It seemed like they did a lot of work to the course. Several people remarked how it was cleaned up from last year.  Ultrasignup.com pegged me to finish in 10:49 and I got in at 9:47.

I just looked at some numbers. The '14 race had 168 registered runner, 19 DNS, and 15 drops for a finishing rate of 90%. This years race had 219 signed up.  Ultrasignup.com has not posted this years results yet so I don't know how may started and how many dropped. DW was waiting for me at the last aid station and said there were a lot dropping that were ahead of me.  I talked to one guy who dropped at 17.5 miles, he vowed to come back next year.

As far as the 100 mile course being too difficult I think they should just work at making the trails nicer. If that part is as rocky as the marathon, simply working to smooth out some sections would make it more runnable.  I find it hard to believe that  races like Hardrock have a huge wait list but this race will be deemed too tough to succeed.  I'm hoping that  Wardian winning this year will give it enough exposure that some other national runners will take on the challenge.  If I remember right there were 189 registered runners this year vs. 199 last year.

I do agree that they may want to look at a 50 mile or 100k version as well.

I have to say that I'm surprised that Wardian won as I don't think he does too many highly technical courses, however Blandford and Welts both dropped so that was his main competition.

Congratulations, DD1 on finishing, too! Great time as well!

I am not sure if I'd want the trails of ES100 "smoothed out" or "cleaned up". Why not have a really challenging 100-miler, instead of the omni-present well-groomed, easy-to-run 100-milers that are popping up everywhere? There are very few races for people who are ready to look into real challenges which push them to their limits and sort out the ones who are not adequately prepared or drop for some other reason. DNF is always a possibility, and I appreciate races that sort out runners who take it too casually.

There are just too many races who are set out to please the runners instead of challenging them. There is no need to have more starters (which requires more expensive permits), nor do I see that every 100-mile race has to be doable for every runner.

 

Overall I was semi-pleased with how it went. It seemed like they did a lot of work to the course. Several people remarked how it was cleaned up from last year.  Ultrasignup.com pegged me to finish in 10:49 and I got in at 9:47.

 

I just looked at some numbers. The '14 race had 168 registered runner, 19 DNS, and 15 drops for a finishing rate of 90%. This years race had 219 signed up.  Ultrasignup.com has not posted this years results yet so I don't know how may started and how many dropped. DW was waiting for me at the last aid station and said there were a lot dropping that were ahead of me.  I talked to one guy who dropped at 17.5 miles, he vowed to come back next year.

Congrats on your finish DD1! That's always good when you beat Ultrasignup's prediction, and you smoked it!

Only 148 runners finished the marathon! Wow...That's crazy. I'm sure they had a few no shows but couldn't have been more then 20% I would guess..That last climb up Torbert Trail I was told by another runner that last year several folks dropped on that climb. Literally turned around and jogged back to the aid station and quit.

Thanks FT! I will work on my RR this week. This one deserves it.

Nice job guys on your COTW's finish. Way to get redemption Dd1.

 

I guess neither of you got your Boston Marathon Qualifying time. 

 

It will be funny when you talk to non-trail runners and tell them you ran a marathon. When they ask your time they'll be a bit confused.  When I ran Pikes Peak, I had a runner friend ask if I walked the whole way. They have no clue what we go through. 

Hahaha totally AT! Just speaking for myself I was very very happy with a 9:01 finish on that course. I'm not much of a road marathon runner and my PR for a road mary is 4:19 which kinds sux but I've never really trained specifically for a road marathon.I clocked basically 30 miles here so really it's a 50K and a murderous one at that.

I'll say one thing, I never have used poles or thought about using them..but here I was soooo jealous of the folks who had them. On a course like this poles would have been a huge help!